Happy April! March was full of twists and turns, so I am hoping that April brings a little normalcy into all our lives. My April is full of engagement sessions, like usual, so I wanted to take this month to help all the brides out there as they prepare! For all my #MarieMedinaCouples, I give them an online style guide with 50+ pages of information about prepping for your engagement session and there is a big section in my Bridal Guide that is dedicated just to this! Even though I explain it and put pictures of past couples demonstrating what I’m talking about, I think it can still be hard to shop for your engagement session. So I decided to look through one my favorite sites for dresses, LuLus, and pull a bunch of current styles that will look great on camera!
This one will use ideas from Tips for Styling Your Portrait Session, but apply them to engagement sessions. Specially, for the bride! This one’s for the girls 😀
You can find all of these dresses on LuLu’s website! I thought it would be helpful to show you actual dresses that you can buy that will help improve the quality of your engagement pictures. A lot of it comes from the skill and knowledge of your photographer about light, posing, composition, color, location, and more…but a little bit of it is on your shoulders. Images look better when the subjects of the image look good! For the purposes of this blog post, I am only showing you examples of dresses that will look fantastic. If you’re one of my brides (or if you want to be! :P), let’s talk further about creating your looks and outfits for both yourself and your fiancé!
Also, pay attention to the colors I chose fo these images! I intentionally screenshotted the dresses with colors that would look great on camera. Almost each dress on here comes in other colors! If you see a dress you love, but it’s not in a color you like, find it on LuLu’s site and see what other options you have. Just because I have it in white on here doesn’t mean it will only look good in white. Sticking with neutral, soft tones is a good guideline when picking the colors of your outfits. I am a sucker for a cute white dress at engagement sessions though because it does add a bridal pop 😀
First up, the sleek, formal look. I absolutely love these for pictures in DC, with spring booms, or at some kind of estate/manor. Embrace your curves, rock some sequins, and vamp it up with some killer heels!
A two piece, or crop top, dress is super trendy right now! This look can add a little flirty fun to your shoot and show off those abs you’ve been working on for the wedding! If you have a tiny waist and bigger hips, this look can also make you appear a lot skinnier.
Maxis are stunning on camera, but a cute short/skater dress can bring out your personality and show off your legs! I love seeing clients do one long and one shorter dress at their sessions. It adds so much variety and the fit and flare look is just so flirty! It just gives off “I’m happy and in love” vibes!
You can rock some sleeves too! Sometimes the weather or season of your session means that some type of sleeve is more appropriate. If you are insecure about your arms (which a lot of women are!), then a little sleeve can make you feel more comfortable on camera!
I loooove a good floral pattern! For spring/summer engagement sessions, a floral pattern is perfect. It’s bridal and feminine, while also adding a ton of visual interest in an image. Long, flowy, floral dresses get me hyyyppee for engagement pictures!
Right now, midi length dresses are super popular! It’s a cute length on almost anyone and you can mix it up with florals, sleeves, tight, or flowy styles. Fun fact, Kimmie wore the blue floral dress I listed below in her engagement session last spring!
You can’t go wrong with a solid color maxi. I love a good slit because it can make it easier for you to move in the dress and looks fantastic in pictures. You can rock a tighter fit or a flowy fit. You can rock sleeves, straps, or off the shoulder. A simple, yet stunning dress like these gives you a lot of flexibility in your fiancé’s outfit as well as will work in any location or type of engagement session.
As always, I hope this was helpful! Whether you’re a #MMPBride or not, I’m here for you. I want the entire wedding planning process to be as fun as possible! Your engagement session should be a highlight of your time as a fiancé! Hopefully seeing some actual dresses that you can go buy right now from LuLus makes it easier for you to prepare…and I hope it got you even more excited for your session! Happy shopping 😀
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